Kansas State University

Interior architecture and product design faculty head award-winning curriculum design team

Submitted by Communications and Marketing

Two Kansas State University interior architecture and product design faculty members are part of an award-winning curriculum website team.

Katherine Ankerson, professor and head of the department of interior architecture and product design, and Neal Hubbell, associate professor and associate head of the department, were part of a 10-member, four-university team that that received the Interior Design Educators Council's 2013 Media Award for their collaborative effort on the Lighting Across the (Design) Curriculum website.

The award is given for recognition of the content of an outstanding visual media piece that exhibits excellence in addressing issues of the discipline of interior design including practice, research and education.

The website project was funded with a grant from the Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education. Ankerson was the project lead.

"Often, students learn the basics of lighting in a specialized lighting course, then professors reinforce knowledge on projects in studio," Ankerson said. "This website encourages thinking about light as a design element from the very first year in a student's program and reinforces concepts throughout the curriculum."

The finished project is a seven-module website complete with audio, exploration and application, and the fundamental concepts appropriate for different types and levels of classes and design education across disciplines.

The selection committee called the site very graphically appealing, showing lighting in a physical model, coupled with text to help students understand more fully. Committee members also said the website is very easy to navigate and provides a multitude of information from basic to advanced topics.

The Interior Design Educators Council was formalized in 1963 to promote recognition of the contribution of interior design education, scholarship and practice to the advancement of quality of life within the built environment.